Worlds Apart
by AquilaChrysaetos
Summary: A reunion fic. The events at the end of Doomsday and what happens to Rose and the Doctor afterwards. It's pretty angsty at the beginning but gets happier, I promise! There's not really any fluff, it's more, sweet really. Oneshot. Enjoy!
1. The Doctor

Okay, just a few things here. Although I've always been a bit of a Who fan I only got really into it during the past two years, so I apologise if the Doctor is terribly OOC in this. That goes for Rose as well; I find it much more difficult to get into her head than I do the Doctor's. But this is my first Doctor Who fanfiction, so be gentle!

Also, I didn't mean for this to be so long, so if some bit seem a little disjointed that's because I was trying to keep the word count down. Hopefully it's not too long and makes reasonable sense.

Rating: PG-13, 12A, K, or whatever rating system you're using.

Characters: Mostly the Doctor (Ten and beyond) and Rose, some Mickey, Jackie, Pete (and a brief cameo by Donna the Bride, lol)

Pairing: Doctor/Rose

Spoilers: Doomsday, and various small nods to lots of other episodes.

Words: 6140 (yes, I went over, I am a n00b)

Summary: A reunion fic. The events at the end of Doomsday and what happens to Rose and the Doctor afterwards. It's pretty angsty at the beginning but gets happier, I promise! There's not really any fluff, it's more, sweet really. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, and if I did would I be wasting my time writing fanfiction?

Worlds Apart

The Doctor:

He knew that Rose would leave eventually; she would get bored of him, want to settle, find something else which took her fancy, or, heaven forbid, die. But he hadn't been expecting it quite so soon.

His eyes widened as he saw what she was about to do, his determined, brave, reckless Rose. She had to hold on, she just had to. But even as he watched her fingers slipped, as if in slow motion, and she lost her grip. Their screams rang out through the room, into the void, and all he could do was watch, watch as his whole world slipped away.

And then, a shape, an apparition, a man, Pete Tyler caught her before she fell into the abyss. The Doctor's sense of relief was fleeting as father and daughter both disappeared. And she was gone.

Slowly he walked towards the spot where Rose had been moments before, leaning against the wall for support. He reached out his hand to where he knew that right next to him and so far away, was Rose.

As he turned and walked away he could not free himself from his thoughts of her. Even as he removed the last traces of the Cybermen from this Earth, as he returned to the TARDIS, returned to his life.

That first night he wandered the TARDIS, hardly registering the direction of his movements or the length of time he spent pacing the corridors of his ship. He already knew where he would end up.

Upon arriving at the door to Rose's room he took a deep and steadying breath before reaching out with a shaking hand to push it open. Everything about the room felt like her. Clothes hung over the back of her chair, books littered the floor and alien trinkets she had brought back with her adorned every available surface. He noticed her hairbrush balanced precariously on the edge of a table, where it had obviously landed after she had thrown it in her rush to join him on yet another adventure. He nudged it back onto the surface and ran his fingers over the bristles. There were still some hairs left in the brush and he gently picked up one fine, smooth strand and ran it between thumb and forefinger before letting it fall from his grasp.

After a moment he turned and moved toward the chair. He looked at the clothes with fathomless eyes, slowly picked up the T-shirt at the top of the pile and cradled it to his chest, then brought the item up to bury his face in the fabric. His fingers clawed into the material as he inhaled her scent and his senses tricked his brain into believing that she was still there. After a while he returned the clothing to its place next to his hearts. He sightlessly and silently slipped off his shoes, and without relinquishing his hold on the T-shirt, shrugged his coat off his shoulders and onto the floor.

He stepped backwards and turned again to face the bed where Rose had slept for so many nights. She had attempted to make the bed but the sheets were still crumpled from sleep. He lightly touched the covers before grasping the corner and pulling them back. The small movement of air wafted Rose's scent to him again and he closed his eyes to savour it, then climbed into her bed and brought the covers back up to where his head rested on her pillow, surrounded by everything that was and is hers. He curled his body up into a tight ball, all the while clutching, crushing her clothing to his chest. He felt as if he would fall into himself under the weight of the pain, and let out a silent wail of despair. Not for the first time the Doctor cried himself to sleep.

He travelled alone for some time afterwards, unable to bring himself to see anyone but her as a travelling companion.

Months passed by as he repaired the holes and tears in the universe, sealing each one with an increasing sense that he was becoming further and further from Rose. But he used those remaining passages through the void, and into the universe where Rose resided, to call to her. Even in his restless sleep he still called to her, as constant whisper in his mind.

And eventually the time came to say goodbye. The telepathic link was so weak that when he came to closing the last breach he had to spend much of his time around colossal, and highly dangerous stellar phenomena just to send her the message that he was coming. Coming to say his final farewell.

He had never been exact in his piloting of the TARDIS, and frequently made rather large and often interesting errors of time and place, but this time he made sure that his calculations and adjustments were correct to the smallest of details. Rose deserved so much more than this, but it was the best he could do.

He had spent ages on his appearance, not something he was accustomed to doing, and then prepared himself to send her a message in holographic form for one last time.

He appeared on a beach, somewhere in the north he thought, it looked cold. He turned his head slightly, and there she was. She had heard, listened and followed. He couldn't help but smile as joy lit up her eyes and she walked towards him.

She told him that he looked like a ghost so he increased the density of the image, hating that he could not be solid enough to touch her and hold her one last time. She smiled even as tears spilled from her eyes and he smiled back. They didn't have much time, they both knew it, but neither wanted to say goodbye yet. The Doctor gazed at her as she gathered up her courage.

"I l . . . I love you!" She whispered in a strangled proclamation.

The Doctor's hearts leapt, even though he knew it already, she had never said anything before, but he knew it, and fervently wished he had said something before.

"Quite right too." He replied, his brain refusing to come up with anything more adequate. He always had something to say, but when it really mattered words were simply not enough. He began again; "I suppose, if it's my last chance to say it . . . Rose Tyler . . ."

The beach, and Rose, dissolved around him in an instant. The words died on his tongue. He hadn't said it, his chance, and Rose, had been robbed from him forever. Tears leaked down his face unreservedly as the pain that had been threatening to take hold overcame him. His whole body shook and he grabbed on to the console as his knees buckled. He felt sick, and so completely alone. Rose was gone, and a part of him was with her. The pain was almost unbearable.

But he would bear it; she was alive, she was safe, living a new life, everything he could have hoped for her. She wouldn't want him to be miserable. So he straightened up and dried his tears, flipped switches and pulled levers, and set the TARDIS on its way again.

Suddenly something white caught his eye and he turned sharply. Rose? It couldn't be. The figure turned slowly on the spot. The face was not Rose's. The Doctor let out the breath he had been holding.

"What?" Asked the Doctor, thoroughly confused.

"Who are you?" The figure demanded.

"What?" The Doctor replied.

A new adventure had begun for him, an adventure without the woman who loved him, and whom he loved so dearly. But he would go on, for her.

The Doctor continued to traverse time and space. When he had told Rose that he would carry on travelling alone he hadn't lied, even though he picked up more companions along the way. Male, female, human, alien, robot. Sometimes there would be just one person to whom he showed the stars, at others there would be two or three, even four on occasion.

He made a promise to himself to never again allow more than three other people on the TARDIS with him, four people were too easy to lose and far too hard to look after. He almost felt like a father again when they would argue over trivialities, or wander off on some alien planet to invariably get embroiled in some sort of trouble.

But even with so many people around him he was still alone. All of his companions noticed it. An impenetrable wall keeping anyone from getting too close. And a recklessness, wild abandon, almost carelessness for his own life. He still felt enormous affection for everyone who was clever enough, or full of curiosity, or courageous enough to travel with him, and it pained him to see each one go, but none of them were Rose.

He took pleasure and found peace in small things. The sunsets on Earth, the wind at his back, finding a small animal alive in the wreckage after some epic battle, dancing around the TARDIS, running, other people's smiles, cups of tea just the way Rose made them, he still lived it all, with all the life he had to give.

But sometimes he could not help himself but return to places where he knew she would be. He would land the TARDIS on the roof of one of the buildings near the Powell estate and watch her coming and going, and traipse the halls of what used to be Torchwood HQ until he found that room again.

And he regenerated, after one too many careless acts of heroism. With a different body he need not worry about her catching sight of him. He was ginger. He imagined how Rose would laugh at that fact. He only did it the once, he hadn't realised that it might nearly destroy him. Buying numerous items from the shop where she worked, taking them back to the TARDIS and deliberately breaking them, only to bring them back again when he knew she would be working on the customer care desk. He had stared so much that she had to ask him three times if he was alright, before he was brought back to his senses and engaged her in conversation about holidays in Europe. She clearly thought he was slightly mad, but he didn't care, he was so happy to see her. He was so happy until she finished dealing with his multitudinous products and she smiled gently at him, smiled at him as a stranger. Of course, how stupid of him, she wouldn't recognise someone she hadn't even met yet, she wouldn't look at him with all the love in the universe, she wouldn't be there to hold his hand. He practically ran from the shop and back to the quiet sanctity of his ship. No, he would not be doing that again.

The Daleks returned, countless times, and each time the Doctor defeated them without mercy, for they had been the ones to finally take everything from him. He carried on fighting the good fight, righting wrongs and correcting histories. He passed his 1000th year, regenerated again and continued to change and learn and show others the wonders of a universe whose beginning and end, and everything in between, he had borne witness. Finally he removed the Daleks from their existence in this universe, resulting in his last regeneration, and then there was nothing. Nothing left for him to repair, or patch up, or to learn. At least not in his universe. Perhaps now was the time for the one adventure he thought he would never have.


	2. Rose

Rose:

She meant to stay with him forever, even if it did mean leaving behind everything she had ever known. He couldn't be alone, and she couldn't be without him. There was no way she would leave him.

She had to help seal the breach, pull that lever back just a little bit, then they would be safe, the world would be safe. As it clicked back into place she felt the power of the void tugging, clawing at her. The Doctor screamed at her to hold on, hold on just a little longer. She tried, oh how she tried, but the pull of the void was irresistible, and no matter how hard she clamped her fingers around the lever the void was stronger. Slowly, painfully slowly she lost her grip.

Over her own screams of terror she could hear his. She was going to be sucked into the void; there was nothing she could do about it. A fate worse than death, for all eternity, an eternity without him.

But she collided with something solid. Briefly she registered her father, then turned to look back at the Doctor. Their eyes locked for a split-second before she was ripped away from the universe, from him.

She flung herself at the hateful wall and beat her hands against it as sobs wracked her body. Her only thought was the Doctor, just on the other side of the wall. Just on the other side of the wall . . . she could feel something, a warm energy where her face was pressed against the plaster. Abruptly she stopped crying and guided her open hand to where she knew his to be. He was there, right next to her, she could feel him, and hold his hand through time and space.

Then he was gone, she was left clutching at a cold and lifeless wall. She almost doubled up with the pain as fresh tears streaked down her face. All her family could do was watch as Rose fell apart in front of them.

Rose didn't know what to do with herself. She had cried so much that she had run out of tears, and everything felt numb with the shock. She sat and stared out of the window of Pete's car, never seeing the scenery pass her by, only the Doctor's face. None of her new family knew how to console her, so they stayed silent, quietly letting Rose grieve.

Pete took them back to his house and Rose was jolted from her reverie by the familiarity of the building. It was where she had first encountered the Cybermen. She and the Doctor had gone undercover to investigate. She gave a small gasp and squeezed her eyes shut against the memory. Mickey placed a knowing hand on her shoulder and she opened her eyes again. Without looking at him she inhaled deeply and walked resolutely forward into the house after Jackie and Pete.

Jackie tried to comfort her daughter, but to no avail. She could see that Rose needed to be alone. Pete showed her to a room, where, after an awkward moment, he left her. Rose leaned heavily against the door to close it, then turned around and took in her surroundings; all bright whites and warm pinks, a double bed which only took up a small portion of the room, lush carpet beneath her feet, everything that she had become unused to. It wasn't like her room on the TARDIS, and at once she felt very small and alone. She took a blanket from one of the surfaces and wrapped it about her, then sat on the bed and shuffled back to rest her spine against the headboard. She hugged her knees to her chest as her hand instinctively found the TARDIS key hung around her neck. It was the only small piece of him she had left. The thought made her whole body stiffen and she pulled her knees closer to her chest.

She stared contemptuously at the room. It seemed to be mocking her with its cheerfulness. But her mood was reflected in the weather outside the window; dark clouds hung in the air and the rain drops dripped down the glass. She fixed her gaze on the sky, ignoring the alien room, thinking of nothing except the ache in her heart. As she stared fresh tears began to form and she gritted her teeth, stifling a gasp. She clasped the TARDIS key so tightly that it almost cut into her hand, but she didn't feel it. She took a shuddering breath and a quiet moan passed her lips. Rose Tyler didn't sleep at all that night.

It seemed too cruel to her, that now she had everything she'd wanted before she met the Doctor, and Rose couldn't bring herself to be happy about it, not without him.

The days passed by slowly. The first week she indulged her grief and loneliness, sinking into a deep depression. She spent most of her time alone, only eating when she was forced to and leaving her room simply to sit outside and continue to stare into the distance.

She barely noticed the comings and goings of everyone else in the house; Pete going to work, Mickey going to meetings with the other Preachers, her mother going to the shops for supplies. Until one day she got herself up, washed and dressed and came down for breakfast in the morning. She had decided, the Doctor wouldn't want her to be moping about and wasting her life. He had once asked her to have a fantastic life for him, and so she would. She would continue investigating, and learning about the universe, just like Sarah Jane.

So she picked herself up, got herself a job at the Torchwood in her new world. An ordinary 9 to 5 job could never be enough for her, not now that she knew there were billions of planets and species out there just waiting to be discovered. There was so much more she had to learn, and so much she could teach the people of this world.

As she continued to move forwards so too did Jackie and Pete; they got to know each other all over again, and Rose came to enjoy having a father, even if he wasn't, strictly speaking, hers. So when her parents told her that they would be expecting another little Tyler she was surprised, but excited at the prospect of a sibling. And Mickey was always there for her, keeping her company when she felt lonely, and listening to her stories about the Doctor and her adventures with him when she would reminisce. In many ways, Rose knew, she was lucky.

But still, sometimes, in the dead of night, when sleep eluded her and all she could think of was him, sometimes she fancied she could hear his voice calling across time and space to her. He filled her thoughts and she would find herself thinking about what the Doctor would have done or said in certain situations. She imagined all the things he was doing and sights he would be seeing during his lifetime, while she, on the slow path, lived her life perhaps thousands of times over.

In her sleep she wandered the halls of the TARDIS and visited strange new planets with even stranger names, and still there was that ever present feeling of the Doctor reaching out, letting her know that he was still there. Until one night the Doctor in her dreams sent her a message; he was coming.

She told her family about it, and because they all knew the Doctor they knew to pay this dream more heed than any other. They packed their things and set off that very night, driving for miles until they reached the ferry port, crossing the sea, and then driving further, always following the voice.

They drove right on to the beach where Rose got out and carried on searching for the source of the voice, whilst her family watched. Then suddenly it stopped, and she looked around. There he was standing in front of her. He almost didn't look real, but he was there, and she walked over to where he was standing. She wanted to touch him, but he told her that she couldn't, he was just an image.

She let him know what she was doing, that she was okay and getting on with her life. Making small talk and stalling for time before she had to say her final goodbye. He would go on travelling, alone. The thought of it upset her, she didn't want him to be alone, to be without her, and so she had to let him know. She took a deep breath to calm herself.

"I l . . . I love you." She managed to stutter out.

"Quite right too." He replied, smiling at her. She smiled back fondly at him; he was still as cheeky as ever. Her heart skipped a beat as he opened his mouth to speak again.

"And, I suppose, if it's my last chance to say it . . . Rose Tyler . . ."

The Doctor vanished in front of her and Rose was left staring at an empty space. She breathed in sharply as the realisation hit her. He was gone and she could never see him again. They both loved each other, but they could never again hold each other's hands and run for their lives together.

Her world had just slipped away in front of her very eyes. After taking a few steadying breaths she turned and ran to her mother's open arms. Jackie held her and let her cry out her pain and loss, all those things which she herself knew too well. She walked Rose back to the Jeep and they sat there for a few minutes before driving off. On the way back Rose fell asleep from the emotional exhaustion she had suffered, and her dreams were silent.

After the initial shock of saying goodbye to the Doctor, Rose regained the composure she had found in the six months they had been separated before, and continued on as she had done. She had made so much progress in getting on with her life that she couldn't let the Doctor down now.

She lived life from day to day, trying not to count the hours, days, weeks, since she had seen him last. She threw herself into her work at Torchwood, and quickly became very important within the organisation due to her extensive knowledge of all things alien.

Her family got larger, and the bonds grew closer. Rose and Mickey regained some semblance of the relationship that they used to have, but both knew that they could never be together again in the way they were before, not when Rose was in love with another man. Mickey still stayed with the Tylers, as he was as much a part of the family as any of them. On long nights being kept awake by the baby Rose was glad of his company.

At work, although she was well respected amongst her peers, she was also known for being a little eccentric. She had friends, some of whom became very close, but she always rebuffed offers from men, saying that she had lost someone very dear to her and was not yet ready for a relationship. Once it became clear to people that Rose's 'not ready yet' meant 'never' the sense of mystery about her deepened.

As she rose through the ranks of the organisation she was allowed more time and resources to enable her to further her understanding of alien technology and put it to use. Alien invasion and the acquiring of extra terrestrial technologies didn't happen on a regular schedule, so having things to do during 'down time' kept the employees happy, and the pursuit of their own projects was encouraged, as long as these didn't interfere with the work they were doing for the organisation.

Rose had managed to salvage several of the inter-dimensional buttons used by the Preachers and her own father on that fateful day. At first she spent vast amounts of time learning all she could about up to date Earth physics and electronics, grappling with the finer points of quantum mechanics and confusing herself in circular arguments; she even had some of the scientists at Torchwood teach her degree level maths. Rose could see why the Doctor had said that travel between dimensions was impossible.

However, her very existence proved that wrong, and she knew that when the Time Lords had been around travel between dimensions had been as easy as popping next door for a cup of tea. She was sure there was a way, a safe way that would not result in both universes collapsing, so she persevered.

It took her almost two years of hard study, all in her spare time, to fully understand and be able to manipulate the complex equations and theories she needed before she could start tinkering with those buttons, taking them apart and putting them back together again. And she used the psychic training provided by the organisation to try to access the knowledge she had once held in her mind, knowing that it would help her immensely. Sometimes she wondered how the Doctor could possibly know so much about practically everything, even though he was an alien. But she also imagined the look of glee on his face if he could see how much she was learning about how the universe, even the multi-verse, worked. And she smiled to herself at the thought that several years in the past there was another her who didn't even know what that meant. Oh how she wished he could see her now.

She had decided some time ago that in order to live her life on the slow path she would have to devote that life to trying to find her way back to him. Even if she never did manage it, it at least gave her a purpose, and some hope. It allowed her to appreciate her life and to enjoy it the best she could.


	3. Reunion

Reunion:

One day a strange man walked into the lobby of Torchwood tower. Everyone who saw him thought that he looked simultaneously older and younger than his body allowed him to be. He asked after Rose Tyler, inquiring as to whether she still worked there. The woman at the desk looked slightly taken aback, people didn't usually just saunter into the headquarters of Torchwood as this man had, and casually ask about staff members. She replied that there was indeed a Miss Rose Tyler working for the organisation, but that she was currently very busy with her work and not receiving visitors without appointment. The man looked thoughtful for a moment, then asked the receptionist to tell Rose that an old friend had stopped by, before swiftly turning on his heel and walking out of the building.

The woman stared after him with a bewildered expression on her face.

As Rose was leaving for the day Alice, the receptionist, called after her. She informed Rose that a man had stopped by earlier asking after her, and that he had left the message that he was an old friend. Rose looked just as nonplussed as Alice had earlier, but thanked her for conveying the message before saying her goodbyes. As Rose walked to her car she couldn't help wondering who this person was. She didn't have any old friends here. She had only been in this world for about five years; the only people she knew from before then were Mickey, Jake and her parents. They would all have said who they were, and the only other people she knew worked for or were connected with Torchwood in some way. It puzzled her all through the night.

The next day she went into work as per usual, if a little tired from a night of disturbed sleep. Once she got back into the rhythm of work she forgot all about the strange man from yesterday and immersed herself in numbers and wires. However, as 1 pm approached and her stomach began to remind her that she had not eaten since 8 am that morning Rose's concentration wavered. Instead of working through her lunch and grabbing a few bites of sandwich like she normally did, on a whim, Rose decided that this lunch time she would go out for a proper meal and leave her work for an hour. It would still be there when she came back, and she did deserve a small break, she had even been coming into the office on weekends lately as well. She tidied her desk a little, left a post-it note on her door and made her way to the lobby.

Alice looked up from her computer screen, and there standing in front of her was the strange man from yesterday. He grinned at her as she stared at him. After a few moments the man broke the stalemate and asked whether his message had been passed on. Alice replied that, yes, the message had been passed on, but as he still had no appointment he couldn't see Rose. She asked if he would like to make an appointment but he said that he would just wait instead. He made his way to a small island of chairs, sat down swiftly after choosing a newspaper, and proceeded to put his feet up on the table. Alice stared at the recumbent man incredulously, but there was something so odd about him that she couldn't bring herself to say anything.

Rose hit the last step of the staircase with a bounce and pushed open the door to reception. As she did so she noticed the man sitting reading the newspaper. She looked over at Alice who was busy on the phone, but managed to catch her eye. The receptionist caught Rose's questioning look and nodded her head towards the man and smiled to indicate mutely that he was the same one from yesterday. Rose nodded back and walked over to the man, all thoughts of lunch forgotten.

As she walked over he put down his paper and looked up at her, smiling gently.

"Hello." She said.

"Hello." He replied, standing up to be polite.

There was something about him that she just couldn't place. Something familiar. She looked up and studied his face as wild, crazy, half-formed thoughts appeared in her mind. The eyes were not the bright blue, nor the warm, deep brown she had become accustomed to, he was not so tall as she remembered, he even smelled different, but it was definitely him. She looked into his eyes as her own widened in shock.

A joyful grin spread across his face as he said; "Hello, Rose Tyler."

Rose stared at him open mouthed for a moment as he took in her appearance. She was thinner than she had been and dressed smartly in a skirt suit, she had let the blonde highlights grow out of her hair, and her natural light brown had taken their place. But her eyes, and that slightly comical expression, it was all Rose.

"Doctor?" She asked, uncertainty in her voice. She could recognise that grin anywhere, but how could she be sure he wasn't just a mirage, or perhaps she had finally cracked and gone mad from missing him so much. She reached out a hand to touch him. "Is it really you, are you really here?"

"Well, I suppose I look a little different. New, new, new, new, new Doctor. But yes, I'm real."

Rose could feel the heat rising behind her eyes as the realisation, and relief, washed over her. She smiled up at him with shining eyes as her out-stretched hand found the fabric of his shirt-sleeve. That was enough confirmation for her; he was real and standing right there in front of her. She gave a nervous laugh and pulled him into a tight embrace, pressing as close as she possibly could, almost as if she let go he would cease to be there. He in turn wrapped his arms around her and bent his head to bury his face in her hair.

"I missed you so much." Rose whispered desperately.

"Oh Rose, I missed you too." He whispered back.

He could barely contain the suppressed emotion of all the years, but he settled for quietly stroking her hair and letting a few silent tears fall amongst the soft strands. Rose let out all the joy and pain, and rage, and love and clung on to him tighter, almost unable to support herself, so the Doctor held her up. Neither of them cared who saw, and they stayed like that for a long time.

Eventually the Doctor pulled away slightly. Rose sighed and looked up at him. He smiled down at her. Suddenly a thought occurred to Rose.

"How did you get here?" She asked, puzzled.

"Ah, well, that's a long story." The Doctor replied. Rose raised her eyebrows and gave him a meaningful glare. "But to cut a long story short . . . I did a bit of research on it, when the Time Lords could cross between dimensions easily, and I found a fairly safe way, so here I am!"

"A _fairly_ safe way?" Rose questioned.

"Yes, well, it was a bit like when we came here the first time, only not such a bumpy ride." He continued.

"So, what about the TARDIS? Wasn't it damaged last time?"

The Doctor nodded. "She's not exactly functional at the moment . . ." He let the sentence trail away.

"Ah." Rose replied, unsure of how to respond; the Doctor was rather fond of his ship. "So . . . so what about getting back then?" She asked, hesitantly.

"I, uh, I won't be going back. Can't. Not once I've repaired the damage I've caused. That's it, time for one last adventure, Rose."

He smiled weakly at her, and she could tell that he was a little sad to leave their universe behind. But he also seemed happier than ever to be right where he was. Rose had lived in this universe now for nigh on five years, and she had to admit that it wasn't that bad, and there were enough little differences to make it interesting. She smiled back reassuringly and ran a hand along his forearm. Suddenly her stomach growled. Both of their faces cracked into grins before they started giggling. Rose had forgotten how hungry she was.

"Oh, yes, lunch break." The Doctor had clearly lost track of time as well. "Erm . . ." He began awkwardly, "erm, you weren't going to uhm, meet up with anyone, were you?" He asked tentatively and looking somewhat embarrassed.

"Actually, yeah." She replied.

"Ah." He said, scratching the back of his head and shuffling a bit. "Well then, I won't keep . . ."

"Don't be daft you idiot!" Rose burst out, playfully tapping him on the arm. "Of course I'm not meeting anyone!" She grinned at him and he reciprocated, relief apparent on his face.

"Come on then." The Doctor said, placing a hand on Rose's back and guiding her to the door. "Can't have you working on an empty stomach."

Rose looked round at Alice, just to indicate that she was actually leaving now. The receptionist still had a rather confused and dazed look about her. Rose smiled, waved and pointed to the door, the Doctor looked round too. Alice shook herself and waved back, then returned to her computer screen.

As they walked through the door the Doctor bent and whispered in Rose's ear: "Is she alright, your receptionist? She stares a lot."

Rose giggled and whispered "Shh" as she hit him with her arm. They both smiled at each other, glad to be enjoying one another's company once again.

"So, what's for lunch then?" Asked the Doctor, breaking the spell.

"Well, y'know I said I wasn't meeting anyone . . ." Rose began.

"Mmm."

"I do have an appointment with a rather large portion of chips." Rose finished with a mischievous grin.

"Chips it is then!" The Doctor replied.

They walked along smiling at each other for a few moments until Rose remembered something and checked her watch.

"Oh bollocks!" She exclaimed, "I've only got 15 minutes of my lunch break left."

"Well then," Said the Doctor, "There's only one thing for it."

He stopped walking and put out his hand. Rose placed hers on top, slightly puzzled but intrigued nonetheless. The Doctor laced their fingers together and ran his thumb over her hand, savouring the simple touch for a moment. Rose smiled gently. He pressed his face close to hers with a deadly serious expression and she searched it, still a little confused. Then an infectious grin spread across his face and he inhaled deeply.

"Run!"

The End

I hope everyone enjoyed it.


End file.
